This week’s fresh listings:

This page is to be updated every Tuesday and will contain all the latest Coin, Medal & Token listings for that particular week.

The more observant of you may have realised that I no longer keep previous "Fresh Listings" coins on this page.

All for sale coins can be found via the category grid on the front page. Most sold coins are now accessible via a new link on that same category grid.

Additions to www.HistoryInCoins.com for week commencing Tuesday 18th December 2025

A week of Commonwealth for your delectation.

If interested in the coinage of the Commonwealth, I highly recommend a visit to www.SunAndAnchor.com

WCom-9239: 1652/1 Commonwealth Hammered Silver Halfcrown. Initial mark Sun, S.R. 3215. Generally, larger denominations such as this never really made it out of London into the shires. Just prior to the Protectorship period (1653-59) but very much during the period of Oliver Cromwell. An interesting coin in that although you can't see it from the date itself, it is actually a 1652/1, meaning the reverse die was a recycled 1651 die. Further, the obverse is also a recycled 1651 die - note the x15 leaves, which was also a feature on the 1649 obverses, but in this coin we see the small initial mark Sun, meaning it can only be 1651. 1649 saw the new Commonwealth design emerge but whilst it looked good at first glance, there were problems with the cross hatching and other central elements that affected not only it's longevity in circulation but it's actual appearance fresh out of the mint. The coins were not as sharp as required. This was probably to be expected considering that this design was a million miles away from everything that had gone before. The 49 dies were generally discarded at the end of that year. There was no silver coinage in 1650 and so during that silver hiatus, the mint used the extra time well in perfecting the dies. 1651 witnessed much improved dies and also lots of them, particularly the obverse dies which was more than likely motivated by the famous 1651 Blondeau pattern (the 1651 Ramage coinage used a different set of dies). 1651 was not a huge year of output (similar to 52) and so clearly they sank way more dies that was required (actually, required is the wrong word - they literally didn't have the available bullion to make enough new coinage). Those dies were subsequently recycled for the majority of the 1652 coinage. Late in 1652, those recycled 51 dies eventually ran out and so a large batch of fresh, straight 1652 dies was prepared - again, those straight 52 dies would remain largely unused in that year, destined to be recycled as 1653 coins. It's worth stating again that 1652 was not a big year for coinage output. 1653 and 1656 were huge years of output (I say "huge", and so it was within the Commonwealth period, but compared to virtually any other year in history outside of this period, even 1653 and 1656 would be tiny), helped to a large extent by raids on foreign ships containing large quantities of bullion - similar to the VIGO and LIMA coinages to come later under Queen Anne and King George II, although unlike these later coins, the 1653 and 1656 Commonwealth coins were not marked as such in any way. The obverse is recorded on the accompanying ticket as having "OF over Of", which is nonsense - it's just down to a double strike. An extraordinarily nice, pleasing coin benefiting from actually being (in all but date) a 1651 coin both sides! £1,095

WCom-9240: 1658 Commonwealth Hammered Silver Shilling. Initial mark Anchor, S.R. 3218. Generally, larger denominations such as this never really made it out of London into the shires; these later dated coins especially so because mintage was miniscule. 1658 falls just within the Protectorship period (1653-59) but now very much during the period of Oliver's son, Richard Cromwell. There were three years for Richard Cromwell, 1658, 1659 and 1660. Most 1658 coins were from straight 1658 dies and not recycled, earlier dies. This is a most interesting coin in that the obverse die is a mid 1654 die. Further, the reverse is also most likely a recycled mid 1654 die - the W is diagnostic but is unfortunately not clear enough. However, the large 6 in the date cannot be from a straight 58 die so the balance of probability makes this a 1654 coin with the 54 obverse having an altered initial mark (Sun removed, Anchor replacing it) and the 54 reverse having the date altered. This might at first glance appear that all the above makes this something a lesser coin, maybe even a counterfeit of some sorts but the reality is that it's a completely genuine coin (recycling is nothing new - the official and workers at the mint in the 1650's were certainly earning their green credentials back then!) but a far more interesting coin. The economy at this point was in dire straights and would decline further, partly due to the lack of leadership by Richard. Here's an interesting fact that you might not have know; an event that if the opposite decision had been made, could have changed history drastically: In 1657, Oliver Cromwell was offered the crown by Parliament as part of a revised constitutional settlement. Clearly he declined (although he did take a few days to think about it) and instead, Cromwell was ceremonially reinstalled as Lord Protector, with greater powers than had previously been granted him under this title. War always costs a lot of money and England had very little of it left in the coffers. 1656 was the final year of large coinage output (I say "large", and so it was within the Commonwealth period, but compared to virtually any other year in history outside of this period, even 1656 would be tiny). 1657 was a very hard year indeed for coinage and it never really recovered from that point. 1658 is a rare year for any kind of Commonwealth coinage. Further, bullion was in such short supply that the mint was forced to use everything and anything possible in terms of getting in the silver for coinage. Base metal counterfeits would have gone into the melting pot alongside earlier coinage, together with other silver objects that were perhaps less than .925. On that point, when you undertake this recycling process on such a regular basis, other foreign elements, not least dirt, are bound to be inadvertently included into the alloy, ultimately reducing the fineness and thus the quality of the coinage as an end product. This had the all too obvious outcome of trickling out coinage that was literally billon, ie less that .925 silver - not quite as bad as under the latter part of the Henry VIII years, an intentional debasement where they added base metals to the alloy in order to make coinage absolutely not worth the face value. On the rare occasions you do see Anchor Commonwealth coinage, it has a leaden, soft appearance which clearly attracts wear through circulation. Often the legends are incomplete or the date is not obvious. This coin is actually a very good example indeed with an apparent good alloy (rings beautifully when dropped). The reverse is sharper with the obverse being slightly pitted, indicating that this was perhaps a Thames river find, probably a hoard coin where the reverse had been protected by the stacking of other coins - maybe the 1995 Blackfriars Hoard of 1,582 hammered coins found on the foreshore of the River Thames in central London, lost by a trader around 1660, presumably overboard in the river? The all important Anchor and date couldn't be clearer on this coin. A couple of interesting features of the coin: the C of COMMONWEALTH not only appear at the start of the word but also in between the M and the O. The 6 of the date looks to be overstruck over something else. A very rare and desirable coin in much above average grade and condition. £2,395

WAu-9241: 1654/0 Commonwealth Hammered Gold Crown. Initial mark Sun, S.R. 3212. Generally, larger denominations such as this never really made it out of London into the shires; gold coins especially so - silver crown and all gold Commonwealth coinage was predominantly NOT in general circulation, rather being held as collateral in banks (although the Commonwealth period at this point were so bereft of money that there was very little, if any reserve in the vaults), or for use by the government or merchants, which is why Commonwealth crowns and greater did find their way over to the Continent. A coin falling within the Protectorship period (1653-59) under Oliver Cromwell. The date is a clear overdate of 1654 over 1650, meaning the dies were originally sunk for the enigmatic 1650 coinage, of which there was zero silver and one of the lowest quantities of gold (all three denominations combined in total) compared to all the Commonwealth years - even the exceptionally rare year of 1657 struck more gold than 1650. Thus it is not surprising to see that literally every 1654 gold crown, without exception, derives from the recycled 1650 die because it got but the briefest of outings in 1650. Interestingly, 1654, this coin, was the penultimate gold crown issued under the Commonwealth, the final being a 1658. So little gold coinage was able to be struck because the bullion just wasn't available. The gold coinage, unlike the later silver coinage, had to be maintained at exactly the correct fineness because it was this coinage, along with the silver crown, that as has been already pointed out above, was used for overseas trade. The gold coinage of 1654, that's all three denominations combined in total (crown, double crown & unite) is roughly equivalent to the total output of exceedingly rare 1649 silver crowns (Spink auctioned one of the two varieties off a few years back with a hammer price of £40,000+ before commission). There was perhaps slightly more combined gold struck but if you break down the gold and just look at gold crowns, 1654 gold crowns will have been struck in much less quantity than the 1649 silver crowns. In terms of extant silver 1649 crowns, there are less than 20 known, both in private and public collections, and it's almost certainly closer to 15. A very rare and interesting coin. £5,875